Jifners66

I think it’s a good idea to let your surgeon know that you are anxious. I know when I meet with mine I will let him know. This surgery is a major decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly and I am sure that most doctors will understand that their patients will have anxiety about the whole process. That’s why they are there, to help us through it, the good and the bad. They should provide us with all the information that we need, ask us questions, let us ask questions and ultimately let us be as comfortable with him/her as possible. Good luck!

Blackcats, thank you, that is actually an awesome idea! I’ll look into renting a house or even just get a hotel room for a few days 😊

Hi, my name is Jen and I’m new here. I will be 40 years old next month. I have 4 kids (14, 6, 4, & 3). I’ve been thinking about Bariatric surgery for quite awhile. Currently a BMI of 44. I’ve tried so many diets over the past 20 years and even though I have been able to lose some weight it never stays off. Now as a result of being overweight, I am having a lot of knee issues, low back and hip issues. I know that losing weight would help tremendously. I want to exercise but because of my knees losing their articular cartilage, exercising has become so painful. My PCP, orthopedic doctor, gastro doctor and therapist all say that Bariatric surgery would be extremely beneficial for me. It will allow me to start exercising without all the added weight, help my GERD, help my Fibromyalgia and help my self esteem and anxiety. I agree with all of them. My insurance company (Quartz) does cover the surgery. They gave me 3 places I can go to. 2 of the places are very far from where I live. The 3rd one is at UW in Madison, WI (about 1.5 hours from where I live). The thing is that my youngest is in 1/2 day PreK and I have no family around. I’m wondering how I can make all the appointments needed work while dealing with kids and their school schedules? From what I’ve read UW requires 7 months of appointments. I kind of wanted to get the process started soon so that hopefully by next summer I could get the surgery while my kids are home from school. Has anyone ran into this problem? Also, has anyone on here gone to UW Madison for their surgery? I’ve been reading that Dr. Garren is amazing. Just curious if anyone has had experience with him or the surgery center there.

I have to fly Southwest in July and at 300 lbs I know for a fact the seatbelt won’t fit. It didn’t fit me in 2020 when I flew with them and I was around 275 at that time. This time I am buying a seatbelt extender off of Amazon. Just make sure you find one that fits for Southwest. I was finding a lot that didn’t. I’ll see if I can find the link to the one I was looking at.

That would be amazing if I could get some of the testing done here in Freeport or Rockford. I definitely will ask them if that’s an option. I’m sure they have to understand that not everyone lives close to Madison and it’s not always an option to drive there a lot. If I didn’t have my little 1/2 day PreK I’d have no problem with going up there. Next fall will be so much easier with all my kids in full day school. I just didn’t want to have to wait until then to get this started. I figured if I could at least get some stuff started over the summer then by fall it will be a lot easier for me.

Thank you!!! 😃

I am going to call them and tell them my situation and see if virtual calls would be acceptable for non testing appointments. I have severe anxiety so making the call is hard for me. I literally have to prep myself for a good week or more. Anxiety.. ugh!

Thank you! I’ve read such great reviews about him so I was hoping they were true. To answer your other comment, I live in Freeport (about 45 minutes from Rockford). That would be great if you could connect me with the lady you know who was a former patient. I do plan on joining the FB group once I officially enroll. I just need to find a day/time that would work for my first appointment since I’m sure my 3 year old can’t go (unless they have changed Covid protocols but I doubt it). I need to find a sitter first. We just moved to Illinois in December of 2020 so I haven’t made too many friends yet..lol.